Summertime Happenings

It has been a long time since my last post, but all the days feel like they blur together without school. We've kept a pretty relaxed schedule--a week of swim lessons and Caleb's piano lessons have been our only activities. We have spent the summer days going to the library, swimming pool, mall, and Snow Cone Lady. There are some fun free events around town, and we've done our best to take advantage of those. Sierra learned how to swim during her first lesson and has been a little fish ever since. It has been so much easier taking the kids to the pool now that I only need to hold Madeline. Sierra has been begging us for a pet guinea pig. She desperately wants something to love and nurture, and Ted and I prefer a contained pet if we have to have one. I haven't relented yet, but I don't know if I can hold out much longer without her driving me crazy. Caleb finished his baseball season on a good note, getting a hit in each of his last two games and successfully scoring in the last, earning the game ball. He said he'd like to play again, but unfortunately next year we're too busy. On an funny note, after all his struggles in baseball, he also won the Grand Slam Award at school from his teacher for the all-around boy student. Madeline thinks she's a cat, and spends her days crawling around, meowing and scratching at us. (Sierra can at least pretend she has a pet...) Madeline has to be potty trained in three weeks to start school, and I've given up hope that I'll have any impact on her. I'm just hoping she does better for her teacher. She loves working with Professor Caleb learning her letters and sounds, although sometimes Caleb gets displeased that his pupil hasn't yet learned to read. Hopefully he'll give her until her third birthday before he throws in the towel.

Our big event of the summer was taking a trip to Branson with my parents. We visited Silver Dollar City; took some walks along a nearby lake surrounded by the Ozark Mountains; and saw a Russian circus, a voice "orchestra," and the Broadway version of Peter Pan. Our vacation got off to a rocky start when one hour after entering the amusement park Sierra couldn't walk because of blisters, my dad's feet and jeans had gotten soaked on a ride, and Ted had dropped the cell phone and lost the keys on an upside-down roller coaster. (Never did find them--thank goodness for a second set in the hotel room!) However, we pulled it together and ended up having a great time after that.

After Branson, we visited Mark Twain's and Abraham Lincoln's hometowns. We rode a steamboat on the Mississippi and saw some of the places that inspired Huckleberry Finn. The Lincoln Presidential Library was top rate and also very interesting for children if you're ever in the Springfield, Illinois area. It had gorgeous life-size scenes from major events spanning Lincoln's life that really brought history to life. We spent a couple days visiting my grandparents on their farm, which remains much the same as when I was a little girl and is always such a delightful experience to share with the children. There's something about hanging wash on the line, watching hummingbirds on the porch, harvesting vegetables, and walking for miles without seeing houses that never fails to have a calming effect.

I've been busy getting ready to start some classes in the fall. I'm thinking about getting a Masters in Occupational Therapy once Madeline goes to kindergarten, and I'm starting the pre-requisites. I passed my first hurdle testing into Statistics without having to take College Algebra. I'm nervous about how I'll balance family, teaching, and school (and seriously concerned about whether my mind still works), but I'm also looking forward to doing something new.

Caleb, my sister Michelle, her husband Danny, and I are particating in a triathlon in September. Caleb is hard at work going over the times from last year and training with Ted. I still haven't gotten a bike or gone swimming. I have done some work on the elliptical, which I think is sort of like running, while watching two seasons of 24. (Talk about an addicting show--it's a good thing I didn't discover it during the school year.) My goal is to make it across the finish line in one piece before the sun sets.

Hope everyone is having a restful, memorable summer!


Nana and Grandpa Dave


Riding the Mark Twain steamboat up the Mississippi River--unfortunately the kids had spent too much time in the car and kept asking when they could get off


The Biddulphs and The Lincolns


This captures a sweet moment with Madeline napping with my grandparents and their dogs--my grandma is a non-stop nurturer and wanted to take Madeline with her to rest.


Celebrating Fourth of July at the farm--when I was a little girl it was a big celebration with all the cousins setting off fireworks (something we couldn't have done in Arizona) and hand-churned ice cream

Frisco Storytelling Festival

Caleb's has been selected as a student storyteller to perform at the Lone Star Storytelling Festival in Frisco on Saturday, October 10th. He will be training throughout the summer for the big day and will share the stage with nationally recognized storytellers. Here's the link to his Youtube audition. If you're a local, he'd love it if you would come and support him!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbgY7ddnwLM

Good Morning, Mommy!

This morning I went into Madeline's room to wake her up and found a little wall art. (Of course we have flat paint and textured walls.) After months of devotion to the potty training cause, things aren't advancing very quickly. I have a mantra I find myself thinking to get me through moments like these--"only two more months of being two, only two more months of being two..."

Memorial Day Weekend

I think Sierra and Madeline look so sweet in their matching pink gingham hats. This picture was taken on our family hike through the spring wildflowers before everyone got hot and cranky and tired.

Sierra Turns Six

Sierra turned six on May 19th. To celebrate, we had a Hansel and Gretel themed birthday party. Each of the girls decorated her own gingerbread house, and we then went on an adventure that took them through each part of the story. I took the girls for a walk in the woodsy area outside our house where they picked some berries which we hung on bushes. (The premise was that the girls were trying to find food for their poor family. We skipped the stepmother trying to get rid of them.) When we got back to the house, the outside door was covered in candy and the garage doors had large paperdoll gingerbread children that used to be real children before the witch turned them into cookies. The girls were terrified pulling the candy off the door, and then Ted poked his head out and pretended to be the witch. He put Caleb in a "cage" and the girls had to feed him to fatten him up. Then they pushed Ted into an "oven." (The cage and oven were designed by Caleb.) We went outside and they had to turn the gingerbread children into real children by tossing a "magic" ball at the paper dolls, which allowed us to turn them over to the other side that looked like children. We then had a hunt to find the witch's treasure so they could go home and buy food for their families. Sierra got a new dress with a matching dress for her favorite doll as well as Barbie bike that even has a little bike attached for a lucky Barbie to ride along. Happy Birthday, Sierra!


Decorating Gingerbread Houses


Hunting in the forest for berries


The Gingerbread Children


Sierra and Penny


Sierra's Barbie Bike

Sports in Texas

In case you're not from Texas, I should fill you in that sports are a really big deal here. Caleb decided to give baseball a try this season, and after spending the last few months camped in the outfield and not getting any hits at bat, he's decided that games with balls really aren't his thing. I actually think he's okay for a kid his age, but some of the other kids have obviously got a lot of practice and talent. A few weeks ago, I accompanied him to a baseball game. I was a little surprised that they decided to play given the rain shower that was starting, but when it started to come down in earnest and thunder was moving in, I thought surely the game would be called off. But no, the steadfast Texan athletes played on, despite the ball being so wet that they were trying to squeeze it out between pitches and the wind blowing so hard that even those of us under the shelter were getting soaked. Thunder was booming, lightning was streaking across the sky (and coming closer, I might add) and they played on. I was tempted to go pull Caleb out of the game myself, but I didn't want to embarrass him in front of the other boys. Finally when the rain was coming down so hard that the boys couldn't see, they were all called off the field. I ran over to the dugout to pick up Caleb, and the coaches started yelling, "Run to the shelter!" I thought we were having a tornado threat, and while I would have rather made a dash for my car, I decided to follow orders. We huddled under the snack stand, and it was then I found out that the reason they wanted us to go to the shelter was to wait for 15 minutes so they could try playing again! We finally were told we could go home, and by this time we could barely walk to our car from the force of wind and rain. When we got home, we heard reports that The Dallas Cowboys had been playing when the storm blew down parts of the stadium. Here's Caleb after braving out the storm.

5 Excuses for Neglecting My Blog

1. Posting on Facebook gives me the impression everyone already knows what I'm doing.
2. Ted went to Chile to visit his parents and I lost my mind after being alone with three kids for a week.

3. I gave up sugar a month ago and can't find anything happy to write about since then. Our St. Patty's Day rainbow cake was my farewell to dessert. I don't miss fruity sweets, but I feel like I lost a dear friend when I think about the chocolate that I'm missing in my life. I must admit I made one exception when eating the homemade chocolate chip cookies a student made me for Teacher's Appreciation Day. I felt like it was part of my job as her teacher to eat them...

4. I'm potty training Madeline--if this is something that is going smoothly in your house, I'd be happy to trade you toddlers. I feel like my life revolves around washing laundry and cleaning carpets. Thank goodness girls go to the bathroom in pairs so I don't have to always be the one to drag her to the potty.

5. I'm getting my picture fix with the 13 scrapbooks I'm scrambling to complete for my pre-K class. I can't believe they're on their way to kindergarten--the year has flown by!